Here are links I found interesting in October 2010:

• Fear and Favor – Paul Krugman writes: “A note to Tea Party activists: This is not the movie you think it is. You probably imagine that you’re starring in ‘The Birth of a Nation,’ but you’re actually just extras in a remake of ‘Citizen Kane.’” Why can’t the tea partiers see this?
• James Randi: Amazing pseudoscience debunker – A brief interview with James Randi. On the McGill Reporter.
• Tennessee County’s Subscription-Based Firefighters Watch As Family Home Burns Down – “…there are currently two competing visions of governance in the United States. One, the conservative vision, believes in the on-your-own society, and informs a policy agenda that primarily serves the well off and privileged sectors of the country. The other vision, the progressive one, believes in an American Dream that works for all people, regardless of their racial, religious, or economic background.” Which would you prefer? Read this and decide. On ThinkProgress. Thanks to @MikeTRose for sharing this link.
• Lou Dobbs, American Hypocrite – This doesn’t surprise me in the least. Apparently, employing illegal immigrant labor is only bad when someone other than Lou Dobbs does it.
• Honeybee Killer Found by Army and Entomologists – Good news. Science may have found the cause of bee colony collapses; hopefully a preventative solution will be possible. Thanks to @PattyHankins for sharing the link.
• Noisy Wind Turbines Attract Complaints – Hello, windmill lovers? Why not LISTEN to a wind farm before you let them build one in your backyard? Wind power is a great idea, but NOT for residential areas.
• March of the Morons: Brady on Evolution and Creation – “…think about the implications of a grown man running for an office at the top of one of the largest states in the most powerful nation on Earth saying that schools should be allowed to teach bronze age mythology as a substitute for a body of science so well proven that hypotheses made 150 years ago are borne out today by branches of science that didn’t even exist at that time.” How can we support candidates that don’t accept the scientific evidence of evolution?
• Sesame Street: Smell Like A Monster – Grover does Old Spice.
• On National Punctuation Day, Let’s Celebrate White Space – The uses of white space in writing.
• Tumortown – Christopher Hitchens, diagnosed with cancer, has been getting lots of unsolicited health advice. In Vanity Fair.
• ROI: Why Are Distressed Homeowners Still Paying Their Mortgage? – This article makes some very valid points for people who are seriously under water on their home loans. In the Wall Street Journal.
• Accused Oakland, CA Shooter: Glenn Beck ‘Blew My Mind’ – This is the kind of people Glenn Beck influences and the way they’re influenced. While I agree with the right to free speech, I don’t agree that such speech should be used to incite violence. What next?
• Ohio Tea Partier Spent Weekends Playing Nazi Games (VIDEO) – Another one for the WTF? Department. Hello, America? Are you actually paying attention to the bullshit going on with these right wing wackos? On Talking Points Memo.
• Images Of N.Y. Islamic Center Meant To ‘Educate’ – I don’t know why I thought this building was going to be shorter, but I’m glad they’re moving forward with this project. On NPR.org.
• Why is This GOP House Candidate Dressed as a Nazi? – Why, indeed? On The Atlantic.
• The Zombie Network: Beware ‘Free Public WiFi’ – I’ve seen this many places, but it shows up as a computer-to-computer network on my Mac, so it’s quite obviously not real. Connecting on a Mac doesn’t seem to hurt anything, but it doesn’t do anything, either. On NPR.org.
• VSS Enterprise Completes First Manned Glide Flight – How cool is this? Tickets are a bit pricey right now, but I may be able to experience space flight before I die.
• Atheists, agnostics: Religious skeptics disagree on how aggressively to challenge the devout – What do you think about the debate? Go confrontational or take a kinder, gentler approach? The religious certainly don’t treat atheists gently. In the LA Times.
• On Polling – For Midterm Voters, War Is Off the Radar – “In a nationwide New York Times/CBS News poll conducted last month, 60 percent of Americans said that the economy or jobs were the most important problems facing the country. A mere 3 percent mentioned Afghanistan or the war. ” Read more in the New York Times.
• Patriots – “No, seriously, what kind of psychopath thinks war is a good idea? And when exactly did enthusiasm for war, war, become a criteria for patriotism or being an American?” Thins is the BEST thing I’ve read about “patriotism” in a very long time. On Stonekettle Station.
• Bill Maher: New Rule: If a Woman Rejects Your First Dozen Advances, Don’t Send Her a Picture of Your Penis – Read past the comedy and you’ll get to this gem of truth: “And that’s where this crew comes in; Sarah Palin, Christine O’Donnell, Michele Bachmann; the lovely MILFs of the new right. And their little secret is that their popularity comes exclusively from white men. Look at the polling: minorities hate them, women hate them — only white men like them. I’m no psychiatrist, but I do own a couch, and my theory is that these women represent something those men miss dearly: the traditional, idiot housewife.”
• Forty Percent of Groupon Merchants Say Never Again – Results of a study prompted by last month’s Groupon news.
• Measles is back, and it’s because your kids aren’t vaccinated – Idiots who fail to immunize their kids are bringing back diseases once thought eradicated. Read more in Scientific American.
• The Real Center of American Politics: A Reflection on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert – “This is not respectful disagreement. It’s thuggery. It has no legitimate role in a democracy. And most Americans are fed up with it.” Read more by Robert Reich.